


Like a dog on a leash

by Tinnevelly



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-03
Updated: 2015-10-03
Packaged: 2018-04-24 14:47:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 11,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4923718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinnevelly/pseuds/Tinnevelly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone wants the three Commanders dead and soon the Survey Corps veterans find themselves in a race against Death to save the lives of their friends.<br/>Suddenly they have to learn how thin the veil to a much darker world of politics and money is and that sometimes your biggest enemy is in your own ranks, stabbing you from behind.</p><p>A story before the happenings in SnK that reveals why it's not always easy to act reckless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> First of all: this is the work of one long night, so please don't be too hard if plot holes should occur. Also english isn't my first language but I did my best to make it readable (and understandable).
> 
> Second: I don't own any of this (except the story itself and the character of Agnes Smith).
> 
> Thanks for reading.

"Here are the reports that you wanted, Commander."  
The called party did not even have a peek left for his subordinates. Neat fingers pointed at one of the many stacks of paper whose incessant growth was registered with a certain anxiety.  
"It is shortly after noon. Should I leave and bring something to eat? "  
Now the commander looked up. A twinkle in the eye should be a final warning for the recruit. But this seemed not to even perceive the look.  
"There was quite a delicious roast pork. Surely we have some leftovers… "  
The letter opener still wobbled a bit after it had landed in the massive wood and inwardly the older man cursed himself for his outburst. It wouldn’t be easy to get it out from the desk. But at least he now had the undivided attention of the young recruit.  
"Get out."  
Reluctantly, he noticed that his voice was hoarse. And if he looked the way he felt, he would certainly be quite a frightening sight.  
"Commander, I ..."  
This time, no knife was nearby to absorb the anger of the officer. The delicate, manicured fingers from before transformed to deadly claws that gripped the collar of the leather jacket of the recruit.  
"I hate to repeat myself. But for you son of a bitch, I'll make an exception. Get out. "  
With some satisfaction he saw the rising panic in the eyes of the younger generation. Now he wasn’t allowed any more mistakes. Almost disgusted he pushed the boy (and the human in front of him certainly wasn’t a man) away and took a seat behind the heavy desk.  
Sighing, he picked up the next sheet of paper and briefly scanned the scrawly writing on it.  
"And get me the toddler who dared leave THIS here!" He crumpled the paper and threw it towards the recruit, barely missing his head.  
It was only when the door was locked again, he dared to breathe. Now the nausea rose again in him. Monetary claims of the Recon Corps, calls for harsher punishment of thieves from the merchants, another hate letter of Wallists. 

 

What was that? Why was it so loud? Why just couldn’t they let him die in peace?  
"... -le!"  
Did the world move around him or was he rotating?  
"Comman-…"  
Someone shook him roughly by the shoulder. He wanted to protest, but just couldn’t muster the energy. A soft grunt escaped his lips - that had to be enough.  
"Nile"  
That was a new voice. Dark, unpleasant. In his heavy head, it was associated with pain.  
"Get a doctor immediately!"  
Doctor? What was going on? Why everything was so loud? Why didn’t the world stop spinnung? Why…  
He never recognized the bitter taste of his vomit, didn’t notice how he was lifted up as if he were a child. He didn’t hear the familiar voice becoming suddenly much louder and more urgent.  
What he noticed was the pain in his arm.  
"Hold him tight! In the walls, if I only once could work with capable people! "  
He was cold and warm at the same time. The dizziness increased and with it the nausea that again crept through his body and forced the bile up his oesophagus.  
"Nile, do you hear me? Let your eyes closed and breathe deeply. I'm with you."  
I? Who was I? Why couldn’t ‘I’ just leave him alone?  
Meanwhile, the cold had become so strong that he began to shiver. Why it was so damn cold? He was ... he was, after all ... he ...  
"Damn it! Just don’t you dare to even think about leaving this shithole! "  
With dwindling senses he didn’t notice how his ribs were broken in order to force his heart to continue beating.


	2. Chapter 2

He was cold and miserable, but he refused the bread offered to him with a faint smile.   
"If I understood the doctor correctly, he will survive."   
Blue eyes flickered over the man but were averted quickly.   
"We still don’t know what happened."   
No, they still didn’t know and Erwin Smith had the uncomfortable feeling that he didn’t really wanted to know.   
"Zakarius takes care of it as we speak." He informed the man before him.   
"Ah, your bloodhound, huh?"   
Smith nodded and then stared at the empty cup between his fingers. He remembered the emergency of the military police well.   
In the middle of the night a young officer had roused him with the message that they had found the commander more dead than alive in his office. 

"Commander?"   
Neither man felt addressed. The first simply wasn’ addressed and the second too deep in his thoughts to react to the speech.   
"Erwin."   
Only now he raised his head and looked up. Mike Zakarius, one of his most loyal officers, stood before him and handed him a letter.   
But before he could take it, the commander of the garrison had already taken a hold of it.   
"What happened?" Dot Pixis was despite his age still an imposing figure.   
The fact that he already smelled alcohol under the mans breath in this early morning, Erwin had doubts that the man had slept. Or he had begun early.   
"That's what I've found in Dok’s office. It seems to be a kind of threatening letter. "   
Had the situation not been completely out of control, Erwin would have laughed.   
"One of thousands, I bet. Which faction was this ... "Pixis trailed off as he saw the cryptic signature and handed the letter to Erwin.   
When he put his fingers on the paper, he got a bad feeling. Zakarius confirmed the feeling immediately.   
"I don’t know. But anyone who calls himself a ‘liberator of the Titans' has certainly not the best of intentions. "   
Without reading the letter, Erwin handed it back to Pixis.   
"I saw one like this on my desk this morning, I think."   
Pixis nodded. "So I should see through my letters and notes from this morning?" It was more a statement than a question. 

"You really think so?" An amused snort, which ended in a chuckle, was enough for Erwin.  
"Mike, someone has attacked Nile and almost killed him."   
"And we have no evidence that it is related. But well, you want my opinion? That's Titan shit."   
A knock on the door stopped the commander of the Survey Corps from answering.   
"I've heard there's trouble?" Mousy dispassionate eyes searched the two men in the small room before they were obscured by a hand.   
"Dok was killed ??" Hange Zoe appeared behind the shorter man.  
Inwardly sighing Erwin dropped onto the sofa.   
"He still is in mortal danger. And all we have is a threatening letter from a ... "   
"An idiot." Mike interrupted him harshly.   
"Anyone who wants to kill this guy is automatically on our side, right?" The voice matched to the eyes, devoid of any emotion.   
"But not if Pixis and I got the same letter." Erwin retorted in a low voice, handing the said letter on to the two newcomers. 

The headaches just wouldn’t stop.   
With a hearty yawn the commander of the Survey Corps streched and then turned in his chair to look out the window. Perhaps he had just strained his eyes and so caused the headache.   
Or was it from the underlying noise from the courtyard, which penetrated through the closed window?   
With a deep sigh, he got up and opened the window. Why was such a chaos down there? The individual departments knew their rosters and tasks accurately.   
"Commander Smith!"   
He watched the nervous horse that was led in the direction of the barn.   
"Commander Pixis was attacked."   
He slowly nodded. So that's what caused the riot. Surely the messenger had just arrived with this same horse and was delivering the message now.   
"He's alive?" He asked in a quiet voice. Short silence followed, then a "Yes.".   
"Is he conscious?"   
This time the messenger was silent for a longer time and seemed to be thinking. "I do not know, sir. I just know that he survived. "   
With a gesture Erwin dismissed the breathless man and then turned back to the window. 

"I think it would only make sense ..."   
"Levi, I won’t hide."   
"Erwin, he’s right. Pixis and Dok are already affected. What if this idiot also attacks you? "   
"Hange, you have information about Commander Dok?"   
The called party sat down reluctantly on her chair and pulled out a small note which she gave Erwin.   
"They still know nothing. And they don’t want me to get too close to him. ", The scientist said, pouting.   
"No one wants that."   
This comment brought Levi a chuckle from Erwin.   
"It's great that even in the times of danger you two bicker like an old married couple."   
Hange and Levi gave each other a dirty look, which the woman ended with a pout and Levi with a disgusted expression.   
Another note was pushed towards Erwin. This time he recognized the clean handwriting of Mike, who had been silent until now.   
"One of us will always be with you." That was the whole explanation about the new rosters of the teams. 

"For anything you deem holy, Mike, I ... " For the first time in a very long period Erwin Smith lacked words.  
"Do you really think I have nothing better to do than watch you take a piss? Nanaba wanted to bathe at the river. With me."   
"I don’t hold you here."   
"No, that’s the work of this idiot with his threats and attacks. So, are you going to finish there anytime soon or should I help you? "   
He dodged the thrown roll of toilet paper with a laugh. “Still pissed, eh?”


	3. Chapter 3

With heavy eyelids Dot Pixis watched the young doctor who carefully controlled his results.   
"He needs a lot of sleep. I prescribe a bed rest of a week and this medicine. He will soon feel better. "   
The small vials were pressed in the hands of his deputy Hannes.   
"While he has been through a lot, he won’t die of it." Soothed the doctor and stopped once again to turn to his patient.   
"It will be all right, Commander."   
Somewhere he had seen him before, right? But Pixis' body had other plans than to think about such a thing. Before his head had found an answer, the commander fell into a deep sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

He saw the shadow before he really was fully awake. Instinctively, he grabbed the hand and turned around his own axis. The attacker skidded across the hard wooden floor and came to a stop on the wall with a grunt.   
Irritated, Levi put his teacup on its saucer and looked at the officer before him. A mischievous grin on his lips as he turned to his commander.   
"Why we're worried about you?"   
But the addressee had other worries as this comment.   
"I'm sorry, Mike!"   
Zakarius, lying on his back, the lumbar spine and the buttocks pressed on the wall, his legs hanging over his head, just grumbled and tried to rise as gracefully as possible without help from his position, which he ultimately failed because a belt of his harness had caught on an edge.   
"Erwin, I ... oh, a newly born titan foal!" Unlike Levi Hange had no problems to openly laugh about the higher officer fighting with his own long limbs.   
"I swear ..." Suddenly Mike paused and stared past the young woman.   
A low chuckle was heard.   
"I hope you're not hurt?" The last of the bunch, Nanaba, had now joined the small congregation.   
Thanks to her, the largest of the officers then attempted to violently free himself from his predicament, which resulted only in a tighter knot of the belt.   
"N ... no."   
"Only his pride." Erwin added with a smile, untied the harness with practiced fingers and helped his friend to his feet.   
"Well then, I’m sure he is delighted to hear that he was right. The letter is the same with all three commanders. "   
Levi noticed the change of mood of the woman first. "And?"   
Nanaba swallowed. She had already experienced a lot in her short but successful career at the Survey Corps, but now she wondered how a human was capable of such an act.   
"They are all written with human blood." 

The moon had risen some time ago but unlike Hange (who slept more quietly as ever), Erwin couldn’t will himself to sleep. Silently he stared at the ceiling of his room which was next to his office. Despite everything that had happened today his thoughts revolved around only one topic. The funding of the next expedition. Actually, he had to meet with Pixis and Dok in the next few days todevelop a strategy that would allow another trip outside the walls by the Council. But now he had lost both his involuntary fellows and should even fear for his own life?   
Erwin Smith, 13th commander of the Survey Corps, conqueror of countless Titans would not crawl in front of a madman. He wasn’t bound to a family like Nile or imprudent as Dot. He had people around him, whom he could trust. He would ...   
Loud cries and hurried footsteps tore Erwin from his reasoning.   
"Erwin, get up!"   
Before he could fully react, Mike had already made light and then tried in vain to wake Hange. A polished boot landed in the ribs of the woman and let her moan softly. But there were no other reactions.   
"Get up, you stupid shitty glasses!" Levi could barely conceal his anger. After all, he had apparently left his bed recently.   
"What's going on, Mike?" While he singlehandedly stopped Levi from further kicking the sleeping Hange, Erwin rubbed his eyes with the other.   
"Pixis' condition has deteriorated. His deputy arrested the doctor responsible for it but it could escalate anytime now. "   
"The doctor?" Something in Erwin crawled to the surface and broke through it with a bang. "Hange?!" 

"Her condition is stable. As with Commander Dok no external wounds or attack characteristics. I suspect that the same poison was used. I can’t say more without further investigation. "   
Erwin nodded to the young woman and turned to his four companions.   
"She ate my food."   
Nanaba grimaced noticeably. "It can’t be the food. I have prepared it myself and then brought it to you. "   
"So, not the food. What else happened? "Levi looked around imperceptibly. "If you noticed anything?"   
However, Erwin just shook his head. "That's everything, and it concerns me."   
"Sir?" The voice of the young doctor interrupted the conversation. "You should see this."   
She carefully lifted Hange’s leg and turned it so that it revealed the back of her leg.   
"What exactly do we stare at here?"   
After another minute of waiting the physician had pulled a small object from the leg and held it against the light.   
"A needle?" Levi seemed unimpressed.   
"A sewing needle. Deep down between the calf muscles. "   
“A mad tailor? Get out.”


	5. Chapter 5

"Marie?" The strength in his legs threatened to dwindle further with each step, but he had to find them.   
"Nile!" Immediately, she was at his side and caught him as his legs finally gave way under him. "You're supposed to stay in bed."   
"I've never seen this recruit before."   
"What? What are you talking about? Come on, you need to rest. "   
"I need ..." The ground was coming rapidly closer, the nails of his wife left red lacerations on his skin when he collapsed unconscious.


	6. Chapter 6

"Thank you for coming. I don’t know what to do anymore. He got feverish again. "   
Mike nodded and smiled at the woman in front of him before he took the proffered cup of tea.   
"I have to thank you for the tea, Marie. So he's still not really clear? "   
Niles's wife shook her head. "He collapsed last night and muttered something about a recruit, he doesn’t know."   
"A recruit?"   
"Don’t ask me. And this morning he almost burned up. Doctor Smith is helpless and can only give him something against the fever. "   
"That's better than nothing. We just have to hope that he soon is well enough to tell us more about it. I have seen his people outside. "   
Marie laughed bitterly. "You mean the idiots out there? They see and hear nothing, as long as the money is right. Yesterday a messenger of the king was with us. He just stood in front of the door without notification. "   
"I'm sure they have waved him through." Mike didn’t tell the woman that his views of those ‘guards’ coincided with hers. They hadn’t checked or even asked him of his whereabouts even though he knew none of the faces.   
"And what if this recruit is one of them?"   
"Marie! Nile isn’t the only victim. There was an arrest already and they are interrogating him at this moment. Probably it was a doctor. "   
"Doctor Smith said that already. She said that someone of your corps was attacked. I have prayed that it wasn’t you or Erwin. "   
"It's a young scientist named Hange. But she's tough and has survived even worse. Just like Nile. But enough of that. " He gently put a hand on her shoulder.   
"Erwin would be happy to have you and the children at our headquarters. You know us and we can guarantee that it’s none of us. "   
"And Nile?"   
"Doctor Smith will take care of your husband, as well as of Commander Pixis and Hange."   
"Mike? What if it is her? "   
The man snorted. "Agnes grew up with me. We are almost related. I would die for her. Nile trusted her too, just as Erwin does. " 

The headache from last night had grown into a full-blown migraine which made it hard for Erwin to think straight. And the fact that he was in an unventilated room with a dead suspect didn’t really improve the situation.   
"He asked for a glass of water. I turn around and he bites his tongue off! That's not normal. " The officer in front of Erwin, a certain Hannes, was beside himself with rage.   
Of course, it was his duty as the official deputy of Dot Pixis to interrogate suspects, but also to guarantee for their safety. And he had failed in such a spectacular way.   
"All right, Hannes. How is your commander? "   
"He is dying. And this cowardly son of a bitch here is to blame! "   
"Are you sure?"   
"For the walls, Smith, I'm not stupid! The commander got his prescribed medicine and he was doing worse and worse. And he told me earlier that he knows the bastard from somewhere! "   
"The ‘bastard' is from the same district as Pixis, even grew up in a neighbouring house. And the medicine is impeccable. "Levi had entered the room and looked at Erwin. "You would think the poor wanker here is innocent of attacking the Commander."   
"And that's why he bites his tongue off ?!" Hannes was about to take his anger out on the smaller man.   
"What offense do you idiot want accuse him with? Misappropriation of funds? Drugs trade on the black market? Child trafficking? With his register, I too would bite my tongue off." In spite of the harshness of his words Levi’s voice remained monotone and emotionless. The file of the doctor ended up on the table between him and Hannes.   
"And if you had done your work without getting involved those stupid emotions of yours, you could have guessed it ..."   
"That's enough." Both men looked at Erwin. This just shook his head and left the room. 

Outside, he took a deep breath.   
"You wanted to talk to me, sir?" A soft voice asked from the shadows.   
"Is there something new?"   
"Not really. I'm working on it, but it seems to be either nothing or something so large that it will be difficult to find evidence. "   
"Try it anyway. Whoever's behind it, he or she will certainly not stop because we tighten the noose. "   
"Is that so? In the underworld people began to disappear recently. Nobody cares."   
"Nile does."   
"Possibly. But like I said, the evidence ... "   
"... can be faked."   
“I see. You are a ruthless man, Commander.”  
A rustle of cloth from the side street next to Erwin told him that his informant had left to pursue his mission.   
"I didn’t know that you still have connections down there." Like a predator Levi had silently joined Erwin.   
"I had to have a way to find you, didn’t I?"   
A chuckle came to the ears of the commander as his subordinate turned around and went back to the headquarters of the garrison units. 

"Uncle Erwin, you can carry me? Mike carried Anna all the way! "   
The dreaded, emotionless and merciless commander of the Survey Corps bent down to the little girl and smiled at her.   
"And you had to walk?" He laughed when the girl pouted and shook his head.   
"Hilde, you're too old to be carried around like a toddler." Scolded Marie, her mother, good-naturedly.   
"But with these long legs Mike is much faster than I!"   
The officer turned away to hide a laugh, which did not, however, escaped his commander.   
"This is true. Even I can hardly keep up with him. Come, I'll take you piggy-back and then we are faster than Mike. "   
Just as he squatted, he felt a brief pain in his right thigh. He was probably getting old.


	7. Chapter 7

He wasn’t hungry. Even the pure thought of food made the nausea ascend in him. Scowling, he pulled the blanket tighter around himself and tried to concentrate on the documents in front of him, but to no avail. The letters swam before his eyes and seemed to laugh at him. Yes, he admitted. He, Erwin Smith, was getting old. First the pain during squatting, now blurred vision and this shiver. Tonight the window would remain closed.   
From the corner of his eye he saw Mike look at him over the rim of his book. Curious, he looked back.   
The taller man stood up without a word and left the room.


	8. Chapter 8

"Unbelievable! We actually have a fighting chance! "   
"Can you please stop from wetting yourself out of joy and help him?"   
A voice echoed in his head again, as he opened his eyes.   
"He woke!"   
"Erwin!" At once a figure was shoved in his field of vision. But the thick fog in his mind prevented that there was a name to the face. That was not even necessary, because just as quickly as they had appeared, the figure disappeared only to be replaced by a larger shadow.   
Warm fingers stroked gently over his cheek and he almost had to laugh at his folly when he remembered that he had not shaved in the morning. Why not?   
"Don’t worry. We’ll get you back on track, Erwin! You have quite a high fever, but we have it under control. "Another voice. Instinctively, he knew that the voice didn’t belong to the warm fingers. Fingers that now stroked his neck, continued down and stopped to persevere over his heart.   
Then the fingers were gone and it was cold again. A blanket was thrown over him and he wrapped his body in it.   
"Whatever it is, it ..." Another voice that stopped abruptly. Erwin thought he heard someone whispering about death but the fatigue was too strong to resist. 

"Good morning, Commander."   
"Doctor."   
"How do you feel?"   
"When I see you, I'm suddenly feeling better."   
"Aww, that's sweet of you. But somehow I have a feeling that it's not up to me, but to the syringe in my hand. "   
"This is an unpleasant side effect, I admit."   
The young woman sat down on the bed and Erwin brushed his hair from his face.   
"How are the others?"   
"Pixis is dead."   
"When?"   
"Four days ago. When you started to be sick. "   
"Agnes."   
"For Nile comes more and more to back to health. Levi protects him with his life now. For whatever reason."   
Erwin smiled. Perhaps his informant had indeed contacted Levi. So after all there still were orders to obey if Erwin should be ‘indisposed’. 

"It still doesn’t feel right."   
Puzzled, Erwin closed the file and looked at Levi beside him.   
"Sorry, did I just understood you correctly?" He persisted and so earned a sullen look of the smaller one.   
"It's still Dok. He is and remains a creep."   
"Strange, he says the same about you, too." That elicited a surprised noise from Levi.   
"You talk about me?"   
Erwin smiled at this outrage. "This is inevitable in hindsight of your actions. And you're not alone. "   
"Yeah, they gossip about my harness being to tight around the arse." Mike had silently entered Erwins sickroom. "You wanted to see me?" 

He still looked like death personified, but he had assured Erwin that he could think clearly. Only the trembling hadn’t left Nile Dok’s body.   
"Your family is in a safe place that only I know of. We can and should at last speak freely. "   
"Only you know about it?"   
Erwin shook his head. "Only I, Nile."   
After he had watched Mike with a sceptical look, he shrugged.   
"I guess it’s too late anyway." He was silent for a short time. "How are you?"   
It had already caused some issues when Levi had grabbed Nile this morning and brought him into Erwin’s office, which he himself had then left.   
The blonde commander stifled a yawn and wrapped himself deeper into the blanket around his shoulders.   
"The drugs work. But it will take time until I’m able to work again." He answered truthfully.   
"Oh yeah, hopefully your beloved Titans will wait until then. Or this.” Full of contempt Nile pointed at the file.  
"The information is credible?"   
"Johann loves his alcohol like his women, hard and in huge quantities, but his information are absolutely credible."   
"Johann?" Mike pulled the file to him and sniffed it.   
"An informant from the underworld. Nile employed him for years. "   
"Only since I’m commander. That's not so long ago, Erwin. "   
"So you have informants in the underworld, ..." Mike leaned back. The story was getting more and more interesting.  
"I have a family, Zakarius. And I have done more for you than you want to know. "   
"Nobody here doubts that, Nile. But if this information is correct, ... "   
"It is."   
"So 3 months ago people started to disappear in this town nobody cares about. No flourishing human trafficking, no increase in prostitution. To where?"   
"Meat?"   
Silently the two commanders stared at Mike. Neither made it in time for the trash can. 

"Whatever you have discussed in there, I don’t want to know. But it’s a first that Erwin throws you out of a meeting."   
Mike snorted and leaned next to Levi on the windowsill. "Have you ever eaten human flesh?"   
Wordlessly, the smaller turned his head to look at the taller man.   
"Tastes like beef." Mike looked back.   
"I have said, I don’t want to know."   
The green hue across Levi’s face made Mike grin. "I only kid you, Shorty. But Erwin says that maybe you will have to once again get in touch with your old friends."   
"I have no more contact with these people." Just for a second something like sadness flickered in the mouse-gray eyes but Mike didn’t mentioned it. He had been there when Levi had lost all ties with his old life.   
"Then we need new contacts."


	9. Chapter 9

His skin burned with every touch. He wanted to scream but something stuffed deep in his throat prevented it. Tears formed in his eyes and ran down his cheeks. His mouth opened in a silent scream, fingers digging into the sheets, he prayed for the first time in a long time. He begged to all gods and goddesses he knew to end his misery. By death or something else   
"... -win!"   
His heart pounded in his chest and he could have sworn that it was swollen to twice its size.   
"Erwin!!"   
Every muscle in his body burned indescribably hot. His veins were filled with fire. When at last a sound escaped from his lips, he sounded like a dying animal. Ironically, he was nothing more than this. Erwin Smith was dying and begged for mercy in his last breaths.


	10. Chapter 10

Nanaba put Mike a blanket over his shoulders and brushed his hair from his face.   
"How is he?"   
He barely reacted. His eyes were red from crying and he hardly seemed to get some air.   
"He is dying. We don’t know why." Levi hadn’t changed much. He hadn’t cried but his usually so proud posture was slumped and his face was ashen.   
"The doctor?" Nanaba had always seen her only briefly but she had heard all the good things from Mike about the woman.   
"She does her best. Takes the pain away from him. "   
Mike let out a strangled cry and dropped his head back down on the bent knees. Levi sat down beside him and leaned his head against the wall.   
"She kicked us out. We stood in her way. " 

Nile Dok laughed. That was the first time that Nanaba heard laughing this man in honest. Not only a wicked grin or a treacherous giggle, but an open and honest laughter.   
"How dumb are you actually? Or is it naivety? "   
Here she had only asked if she could hope for help from the military police.   
"Neither." She said, trying to cover up their insecurities. Dok never appeared to her as the pleasant companion but this laughter made him even more sinister in her eyes.   
"Oh, yes, you are at least one of those things. Or you're just retarded. Pathetic." Yes, this was more like the ruthless commander, whom she knew.   
"I see this as a refusal to cooperate." She said diplomatically.   
Dok grabbed her by the collar and pulled her close to his face. She smelled his breath and was surprised that he didn’t stink as she had always imagined.   
"Not even I trust those bastards, baby. We're on our own. And I'm no longer as agile as your comrades from the Survey Corps. "   
"We have too few people to start a big search." Nanaba gradually understood the man in front of her. But these feelings couldn’t be allowed to interfere with her mission to find those responsible for the condition of two of their comrades.   
"Then it's time that I make a comeback." 

"You're crazy. I know you're crazy, but that's suicide, Nile. That's crazier than you normally are and this means something. It can…"   
"Mike, you’re babbling."   
The larger of the two men said nothing and looked at the floor concerned.   
"I've never seen him so talkative." Nanaba noted. "Ever since it all happened." That was one thing that had occupied her mind for a long time.   
"That’s normal. The more stressed out he is, the more and more talkative he gets. You should have seen him when he dated his first girlfriend. Mortifying. And pathetic. "   
Nile gasped as Mike jabbed an elbow between his ribs.


	11. Chapter 11

, Am I dead? ' Everything felt so easy. He was wrapped in cotton wool and slept without dreams. His ears had failed their service as well as his eyes, who simply didn’t want to open.   
A kiss. On the forehead. Warm breath caressed the skin and went into his hair.   
A second and third kiss. On each cheek one. He must look awful. But that didn’t matter. These lips felt so wonderful. They fit perfectly into the rest of his feelings. Soft, warm, secure. If that was Heaven, Erwin had died happy.   
Something heavy pressed down on his forehead. Warm breath beside his nose. One last kiss, this time on the lips. He wanted to cry with happiness, wanted to preserve this moment, but all this, the touches and the lips disappeared after a too short time. He was alone once again in this warm world. But that was fine for him. He would sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

"I don’t feel comfortable with this, Nile."   
"I don’t pay you for the feeling, Agnes."   
"You don’t pay me at all."   
For a moment, Nile Dok was speechless. Then his wounded pride overtook his mouth.   
"Just do your work.", he told the doctor.   
She sighed and took the necessary utensils out of her bag.   
"You will regret it."   
"Pixis is dead and Erwin will soon follow him. Believe me, I don’t regret anything."   
"Your family?"   
"Is safe." Hopefully, he added in thought. It wasn’t that he distrusted Erwin, but in a world like this one had to be careful.   
"Then let's get started. Give me your arm. " 

It was another day in his office. He had regretted his decision already as soon as he saw the stack of paper work.   
"Why do I have a deputy, when he is not doing his job?" Honestly curious about the answer, he looked at the man in front of him.   
"Sir ..."   
"Do not even think of apologizing for this shit. You can do messenger service from now on." He couldn’t throw the man out of the military police, after all. Although the man was not the brightest candle in the night, at least he was burning with endurance.   
It was good to sit back behind his desk but it wasn’t enough. Nile wanted and needed to be seen. Residents within the walls had to know that the commander of the military police had again fully recovered and now the investigation against the attackers of Dot Pixis and Erwin Smith would start. But the official mills grind slowly. It would take weeks, if not months to find a trace. If this trace would be pursued. Often enough the case was closed even before it had opened. For various reasons.

"Commander Dok, Your Highness."   
Nile hadn’t had to wait long for a summoning. And the wording wasn’t even friendly or at least neutral.   
The king was angry and Nile made him wait a few more hours. After all, he had work to do, right?  
But now he stood in front of the large double doors, waiting for admission, which he had now been granted.   
"Back to health, I see." The man on the throne didn’t do small talk but addressed the subject directly. A custom that Nile had always equally appreciated and annoyed.   
"Yes, Your Highness." He saluted and took care to still let his sickness shine through with slow reflexes and motions.  
"You haven’t lost your touch, Nile, have you? How's your wife and the children? "   
Inwardly, he seethed, was on the brink of madness, but outwardly he smiled charmingly.   
"Very good. They are at my sister in law. So the kids wouldn’t get sick." Far away from your minions. Out of the reach of your greedy fingers.   
"Your sister in law? Ah, in Trost, isn’t it? "   
Nile nodded and gave a slight bow. "Nothing escapes you, Your Highness. The children are very happy to see her."   
"Hmm, children, yes. How old are they now? "   
The adrenaline sent the blood rushing in his ears, but Nile was still smiling. "Hilde will be 7 this winter and Anna had her fourth birthday two weeks ago." Bastard.   
"So young. It really is better if they don’t get sick. I heard it was a bad fever. "   
"Yes, master."   
"But I heard, it doesn’t stop you from working. You even let me wait for it. "   
"I humbly ask for your pardon, Your Highness. But by the death of Commander Pixis ... "   
"... And the threat of Smith’s ..."   
Bastard!   
"Yes master. We have to crack them down or we lose the upper hand over those units."   
"A good decision, Nile. However, it will be difficult after this time even to find clues, right?"   
This tone the commander of the military police knew good enough. Since taking office he had heard it often enough.   
"Yes, Your Highness. Very difficult." He admitted through gritted teeth. "If we had more people, or more money, we could focus on other areas." And again the old game, which he and his counterpart had so often played.   
"Hmm, I can hardly waste my most loyal men on a search, which won’t succeed anyway. That should be enough." Out of nowhere, a servant appeared beside Nile and held out a closed box.   
How far would the king go?   
"The key?" Nile already knew the answer, subconsciously he was afraid, but still had to ask. That was a part of the game.   
"Here." An iron key was held up by the king, Nile had only to take it.   
Slowly he felt the effect of the drugs in his blood growing. He didn’t have much time left before his last strength would leave his body. With measured steps he went towards the king, stumbled over his own feet and landed on his weak knees in front the other man.   
Who seemed to enjoy this spectacle to the last second.   
"I see you're still not up to it, Nile." The usually loud voice was a whisper at Nile’s right ear.   
The man bowed his head in defeat and tried to get up, which resulted in the fact that the king had to half drag him into the air.   
"You should go to bed, Nile." Almost lovingly, the ruler tucked the key to the box of gold into the breast pocket of his commander’s leather jacket. "It seems the fever got you back in its fangs. You should rest.”  
Everything Nile could manage was a weak nod before he shamefully turned his gaze to the ground.   
“You get a royal carriage that will bring you to Trost. Get well soon, Nile.”   
"Lord ..." A shiver ran through Niles whole body. "... That might be better." He finished in a low voice, as he helplessly was brought to his feet by servants and carried out of the room. He was beaten, the King had won.


	13. Chapter 13

The first thing she noticed was a hand on her hand. The warmth of another human being, to which one feels attracted instinctively.   
Another hand was laid gently on her forehead and stroked from there over her right cheek.   
"I'll be back." Still, she was not clear enough to assign a name to the voice, but she reassured the young woman to rest.   
Cold fingers brushed her hair from her face, before she felt his lips on her skin where she had just been tickled the strand.   
"And then I want to see you back on your feet and laughing." For a moment, Hange was sure that something else would follow, but silence enveloped her when her visitor left the room


	14. Chapter 14

"How long has it been?"   
"Long enough to barely fit into battle harness. And I doubt I could take down a titan right now."   
"As if that would ever have been the case."   
"There was a time before you, you little prick."   
"Yes, but even back then you sucked, you dirty ass."   
"Men! Do you have to bicker right now?"   
Mike sighed and checked his equipment for the third time. While Nile had his conversation with the king and was now officially on his way back to Trost to his family, the others had looked around the forgotten town to find clues about the disappearances.   
Still it wasn’t clear where they were taking the abductees or what they were doing with them, but that they would find out soon enough. After all, that was why they were here for.   
His fingers were released from the straps and he woke from his thoughts. Before him stood Nanaba and fixed the harness for him while Nile busied himself at his remaining equipment.   
"What are you doing?" The reluctance was clearly written across Levi’s face, but the professional curiosity had won when he stood next to Nile and looked down at the squatting man. This only grinned up.   
"Finally, you can even look down on someone, what?"   
"Oh, die already!"   
"With your shabby equipment, it would be no surprise."   
"Shabby because you and your disgusting friends won’t give us more money."   
"I hate to get fucked in the ass. Especially when I get nothing out of it."   
For a second, Mike didn’t know whether his childhood friend was joking or not.   
"We should go." Nanaba interrupted further conversation. 

With a worried glance Mike assured that his team was still with him. They knew each other well enough, but their strength was found in the hunt on titans, not on other humans. Not in laying around and hoping to be in the right pace at the right time.

Nanaba smiled when she heard the gentle jokes of her team behind her. They were ready to respond to any signal or even intervene themselves should any kidnappers appear in their area.

Levi sighed and let his gaze wander over the rooftops and ruins. It wasn’t too long ago that he had called this pile of garbage his home. He knew the streets like no other. And yet it hurt to fight in this place without those two beloved voices at his side. 

For the first time in years Nile Dok felt confident. It wasn’t a mask, but a feeling from deep inside. That was what he had always wanted. What he would’ve had had if he just had chosen differently. But when his wedding ring scrapped over the metal handle of his equipment, he knew he wouldn’t hesitate to choose Marie and his family over this any time.

Time went by and no one was in sight. None of the teams had seen or heard anything. Their informant kept hiding somewhere, while the inhabitants of this 'city' were going about their lives as always. They were no different from the people on the surface. They slept, they argued, they got along. And they disappeared. Quietly and without warning.   
Mike had seen a little boy who ran away from something. Slowly, careful not to arouse attention, he crept across the roof until he could see what had sent the child running. But there was nothing. False alarm. Sighing, he withdrew from the roof edge and lay back in wait. 

It was Levi who had the first contact. Wordlessly, he and his team acted above the heads of two kidnappers. A signal to the other teams was initiated and slowly the hunting fever set in. Although there were no Titans, but also a manhunt had something arousing.   
‘Tastes like beef.' Mike’s statement flashed through his head and made him grin briefly. Certainly they were dumb like cattle living here. Like cattle, they vegetated in the ruins beneath the surface, only to eventually die a meaningless death. And now someone wanted take even this away from them? 

Nanaba had time to react hardly, as the signal came. She and her team had just recently found a group of men abducting humans. The worst of it was that most of them could barely be called humans, more like skin and bones. What was so special about these people? Or if you needed ... what? These people hadn’t even the strength to stay on their own two legs. They couldn’t be used as workers. And apparently, the kidnappers also attacked their victims indiscriminately. What they needed these people? 

It was so strange to feel the ropes support his body weight, but Nile never had problems with it. Even in the rare occasions when he used his equipment as a commanding officer, he had always shined. These missions, however, were harmless and never had been as charged as now. Adrenaline shot through his veins and he had to bite his tongue not to shout with joy when the wind swirled through his hair. As he and his team (formerly the team of Hange) followed Levi’s signal they found their own prey. Did all of the kidnappers act at the same time? Nile grinned. That would make this job so much easier.


	15. Chapter 15

"Where are they?!" Another shake of the head.   
"Agnes, where are my friends?! Where are their equipments?"   
The doctor saw herself face to face with Hange.   
"I don’t know!"   
"You must know where they are! Everyone is gone and you're the only one who is still here!"   
"Because I don’t belong to the squad. Mike said, it's better if I don’t know. "   
"Then I must kindly ask you to leave this building, doctor."   
The two women turned around to the voice at the same time and saw familiar emblems on the jackets of their counterparts.   
"Hange Zoe, I hereby arrest you." Immediately two men came forward and grabbed the scientist.   
Agnes tried to go between them, however she was held back by the deputy commander of the military police. "And you, doctor, should not waste your time with a corpse."   
Under Hange’s furious roaring and the supplication of the doctor more men entered the room where Erwin Smith laid.


	16. Chapter 16

Only a few minutes apart but always one step behind the kidnappers the various teams met in front of stairs to the surface.   
"Levi."   
Reluctantly, but obeying the command, Levi wondered only briefly. "Stohess. Between the Market Place and the jeweller."   
Nile nodded and turned to the others. "In the field three patrols are on the go. Three people, two of them armed. Currently, each patrol has an unarmed recruit with them. Two of them from west to east, one patrol takes on the main road north to south."   
Mike nodded. "We will orientate ourselves on the surface. Nanaba?"   
The woman smiled proudly. "Marked for you." She had taken one of the kidnappers with a stink bomb during the hunt and made it look like a prank of a child, so that the man didn’t suspect anything. 

Each team took different paths to the surface. To remain undetected, they had dressed in uniforms of the military police.   
"When this is over, I give a damn about all the collars in the world and tear some butts in." Nile murmured when he strolled around unrecognized by a sentry.   
"If you still have a job after that." Mike added with a grin and raised his nose in the air. He quickly waved at the young woman on the roof, signalling the direction of the smell, and then let the two teams continue through the streets. 

Levi hated to wait. Especially if it his hands were tied during the waiting period. The command was simple. Nanaba’s and his team had come from the south and east into the district, waiting for instructions from Mike, whose team was to meet in a northerly direction with Hanges team.   
Hanges team, which was led by Nile Dok. Levi growled softly, folding his arms. He was not a friend of Hange’s character or even the person herself, but if he at any time had to choose he trusted her with his life and not this stranger. Did he know how to kill someone at all? Or was his reputation more important to him as always?   
Before he could think about it, he saw flashing at the church belfry. Nanaba nodded to him and the two teams began to move. 

"That's it. But the smell was getting weaker, so our target is located in the basement."   
"Or another tunnel."   
"There is no tunnel going to this house. It is owned by a wine merchant. The whole cellar is full of barrels."   
“Ah, just like old times, eh, thief?"   
"At least I'm bringing something in to this mission."   
"Men!"   
And again it was Nanaba who had to separate the two brawlers. This time, however, she received help from Mike.   
"Arguing doesn’t help us. So we have to go through the front door?"   
Levi nodded. "There are basement windows, but to be effective, it would only be an option for one team."   
"So we have an unknown number of people in there, some of whom are victims and only two entrances?" Mike wanted nothing more than Erwin at his side. Strategy had never been his forte. And should they fail this mission, the consequences would be incalculable. What should they do now?   
"Have you any more of these smelly things?"   
Oh, how much he had missed this look in Nile’s eyes. "I could kiss you, Nile Dok."   
Three pairs of eyes turned to Mike, who grinned like a boy. "You have a plan?"   
"It’s not only for my good looks that I got promotioned you know?.Even though it has helped me from time to time." Nile grinned back.   
Levi looked over to Nanaba. "No matter what the two of them smoked, remember to get me some of it." 

The plan had been simple. But as always, everything depended on the unpredictability of the people. It had begun that the improvised smoke bombs hadn’t created enough chaos. Then Levi had noticed too late that three of the five basement windows had been bricked up. Nanaba had her team far out in the basement and at least managed to position herself between two groups of people. Unfortunately, the power of the smoke bombs in this room was too strong, so that keeping apart the two groups was impossible. So she had to act blind and lead the people into the sun and out of the smoke to determine if they were friend or foe. Mike had taken upon himself to distract the three patrols and did a good job with his team, so Nile’s team had the time to divide good from bad and encircle the kidnappers.   
In any case it had pretty well worked out until now. Until now. Because still people came out of the smoky basement and far and wide was no sight of Nanaba or Levi. However one could hear only too well the cries of the residents of the adjoining houses to the military police. It was only a matter of time until the enemy would make a move. 

At the county line, members of Mike's team met only briefly, exchanged calls and persecutors and ran in the other direction again. With concern Mike took in the very slowly vanishing smoke.   
"I leave the rest up to you!" He shouted over the wind to a comrade and headed for the smoking house. Did the plan go wrong? 

Still coughing, Levi took any pause of the coughing fits to send Nile vicious looks and taking deep breaths.   
"I hate you." He brought out between two fits of coughing.   
"I say it reluctantly, but the plan was stupid." Nanaba concurred, trying to sound as neutral as possible at what she failed significantly.   
"What plan, lady? The plan has not even begun." That was the first thing that Mike could hear when he finally joined the others with his team. That was what he had feared.   
"So we were just decorative?" He asked quietly, so the teams couldn’t hear him.   
"No. This was the preparation. For this." With a faint smile Nile pointed in the direction of the loud cries that were heard.   
"We call the military police to our location? Great idea. Idiots and even more idiots to deal with."   
"And you just lost your chance to be one of them. Nanaba, you are the quietest and least known. Take your team and blend in with the guards. They barely recognize themselves so it shouldn’t be very difficult. Look around if you find anything interesting. You are our eyes now. "   
"I hate you." But this time, this statement wasn’t dripping with hatred and Mike even believed to see an approving nod of Levi. 

Mike stifled a yawn, as one of his comrades poked him and pointed towards district boundary. A coach with the emblem of the military police approached, followed by armed horsemen. Immediately Mike pulled Nile on the sleeve next to him and pointed to the convoy.   
"A prisoner transport. But no simple arrest would be this heavily guarded.”   
The wind shifted and blew fresh air into their faces and Mike’s nostrils.  
"That's Hange. And blood."


	17. Chapter 17

Whether she trembled with fear or anger or both, she didn’t know. All she knew Erwin’s breathing had became shallow and labored. Those bastards hadn’t even allowed the doctor to give Erwin a fresh dose of pain killers before transporting them. She could only pray that her friends were out there somewhere and they would be save soon.   
"... -ge?" The voice was so weak that she first believed to have been mistaken. However, the deputy commander of the military police turned surprised to Erwin, whose head was in Hange’s lap.   
"Erwin?"   
"Smith?!"   
Painfully slow his eyes opened.


	18. Chapter 18

Wordlessly the team leader sat together and listened to Nanaba’s report about the inner workings of the winery. Corpses, blood, frightened people. And above all hung the command to clean up and restore order. But something else bothered her even more. Equipment of troops, dismantled, studied, in addition to a number of bottles with a dubious liquid.   
Throughout the meeting Nile had become increasingly quiet and visibly paler.   
"What is it, Dok?" Levi decided to appeal to the whole in order to rule out unpleasant surprises as early as possible.   
"I thought I'm just getting old."   
Nanaba looked up. "Erwin mentioned that too, before he fell ill. What about it?"   
Nile swallowed hard. "I felt a pain in the shoulder as I put on my harness that day. Here." He slowly pulled the shirt collar away and revealed a spot of skin.   
"We didn’t know what we are looking for. But now we know it. This." Cautiously Nanaba bent over Nile’s shoulder and pointed to the band aid on the pale shoulder.   
"I bet there was a needle underneath it. Hange had one in the calf, right where the boot rubs against the muscle. "   
"And with Erwin it was the thigh." Levi added, rubbing visibly uneasy over his own lateral thigh harness.   
"Mike?"   
The called party did not respond, but slowly untied the belt across his chest. With trembling hands he took up the shirt and pointed wordlessly to a spot next to his sternum.   
"Crap."   
"Mike, no."   
"We have to get it out immediately!" 

"Did you know that you have beautiful eyes?"   
"You've got your damn sword over my heart and dare to joke around, Dok?"   
"I could kiss you instead."   
"I'll bite your tongue off if you ...." Mike's fingers clenched around Nile’s hand as the pain flared up.   
"You son of a bitch!"   
"Do you think I would do that? No, my dear, I'm just a distraction."   
"Can you both shut up now?" With quiet hands Nanaba pulled the bleeding tissue apart and grabbed the almost invisible needle head with a pair of tweezers.   
"It will take a long time?" Three pairs of eyes turned to Levi and let him fall silent. 

"I respect your decision, but that's Titan shit."   
"Did you learn bad words from Erwin again?"   
"Mike."   
With a quick movement of her hands Nanaba had the ears of both men between the fingers. "Can we now please hurry?" She didn’t want to think about Mike felt right now. When they had separated, his fever had risen slowly. She just hoped that the removal of the needle would weaken the disease.   
A faint whimper brought her thoughts back to reality. She let go of the two ears and straightened up.   
"What do we do now?"   
"Like I said, I'll go in there. As commander of the military police. "   
"And you'll be arrested because you're supposed to be where?"   
"In Trost."   
"And how far Trost is away?"   
"Listen here, you little twat..."   
Nile trailed off as Nanaba was preparing to attack his ear again.  
"No need to hurt me." One could see that the man had three women around him at home and was used to this kind of punishment.

"We found him lying in an alley."   
"Oh yeah? And where's the rest? The whole damn Survey Corps has disappeared. The fuckers are safe somewhere and hide themselves. Wankers!"   
However, despite his hate speech the sentry waved Nanaba, disguised as a member of the police, and her prisoner Levi through and into the headquarters of the military police.   
First, Levi had resisted to be tied and enter enemy territory without his equipment but in the end he had to admit that they ran out of options.   
"I just hope he knows what he's doing." He whispered to his ‘guard’ and staggered dazed beside her.   
"Me too. But do we have a choice?" 

Meanwhile, they had organized everything they needed for an uprising. Nile had sent the different teams in the different districts of the innermost wall and ordered them to create as much chaos as possible.  
From roof he watched as a spectacular explosion occurred in western Stohess. With sadness he thought of the tavern in this area, hoping that the fire didn’t originate from there. But he wasn’t there to watch the chaos or list the errors of his people, as they frantically rallied in teams and rushed to the trouble spots.   
He felt calmness fill his body from the toes to the head. The first time he had felt this calm was when he faced a titan. He had lost his equipment, his team and his horse and was done with life.   
At the time, Erwin had saved his life. A favour that he still hadn’t returned yet. For years it had been gnawing at his pride that it had to be him in this situation and Erwin returned as a hero. 

Entering the main tower was not particularly difficult for the chaos in the city. Inside the walls it was much harder to remain an unknown soldier. In another district, it would have been so simple, but here? This was his home, his own turf. Everyone would recognize him immediately, unless he quickly developed a plan. Moreover, he had to find Nanaba and Levi, save Hange and Erwin and find out what this had to do with the manipulation and people’s disappearance. Nile Dok had a long day ahead of him.   
With a look outside the window to the horizon he realized that the day wouldn’t be that long, because the sun was already setting behind Wall Sina. 

In the meantime the other two were almost free to move. There were no questions and if someone should spare a second look, all it took was a nod of Nanaba to be deemed uninteresting or additional work worth to elude. And with the chaos that raged outside, it was not long until they were completely alone in the most corridors.   
"I won’t kill him. Just torture him a bit."   
Nanaba smiled a little and poked at Levi. "You like him."   
"I tolerate the fact that he's breathing."   
"And yet you obey his orders."   
Levi froze. She had hit a sore spot.   
"We should continue. The cells are in the basement."


	19. Chapter 19

Running, cries, hectic, an explosion. Hange’s grin couldn’t be wider as Erwin again opened his eyes. First she wanted to fall around his neck, but then thought better of it and left it up to a cautious embrace.   
"You live."   
"I doubted it myself." Confessed Erwin. "What's going on out there?"   
"The others are getting us out of here."   
Hange’s enthusiasm let Erwin smile weakly. "I hope so. Have they tied you up?"   
A metallic clink confirmed his suspicions. But contrary to his fears he himself was free. Hadn’t he felt so damned weak ...   
"Erwin, Hange!" A familiar face pushed against the bars of the heavy wooden door.   
"Nanaba!"


	20. Chapter 20

"You told me that he would die if the project fails!"   
"Although his condition improved, he will die. It's just a matter of time."   
"And Dok?"   
"Has a maximum of the night before his body collapses. Don’t worry, you will keep your new job."   
"Was at least one of your experiments not in vain?!"   
"You can’t say that. Alone, that Smith and Dok have survived for so long, shows that they were a good choice."   
"They stood in the way and an execution would have been too obvious. Pixis at least had the decency to die immediately."   
"And had it worked we would have created two very powerful Titans. Whereby my bet would have been closer to Pixis and Smith."   
"Don’t underestimate Dok. He’s tougher than he looks. And he will die in the arms of his whore."   
"Shht! What is that?"   
Nile could barely keep up with the conversation, ear pressing against the door. In vain he tried to stay conscious but the fever had surprised him. With trembling fingers he tried to open his shirt and the straps around his chest to get a little more air. These movements had triggered a coughing he could hardly suppress.   
"If this isn’t Nile Dok. And I have given you the chance to die happy."   
The cold barrel of the rifle was almost a relief when it met his hot forehead. From under half-closed eyes he watched his deputy, his successor. He wanted to fight, didn’t want to give up, but he had no strength left.   
"And when you're dead, it’s your family's turn."   
With one last cry Nile fell against the rifle and the legs of his opponent. A shot went off and the world went black. 

"Was that a shot?"   
"Quick, we must get out of here."   
"Not so fast, Erwin needs to rest."   
And indeed, the blond man had reached the end of his strength. Each breath burned in his lungs and his legs refused to work properly.   
"We must get out of here!" Levi grabbed Erwin on the arms and dragged him up.   
"If we die here, I'll bite you in the ass!" He swore in a strained voice as he Erwin pulled onto his shoulders.   
While Nanaba peered into the corridors and commanded Levi to follow with his burden, Hange looked around more closely.   
"Where's Mike?" 

"Just stop to struggle, you big wanker!"   
Flesh met flesh and a strangled gasp escaped the prisoners chapped lips.   
"He's heavy! Do you have to beat him unconscious?"  
"I didn’t do anything! He was like that when we found him."   
Two voices shared a laughter, a man and a woman.   
"One wrong move and I'll kill you.”  
Astonished at this audacity the two military police actually remained standing and staring in disbelief at Hange.   
"Isn’t that the crazy scientist of the Survey Corps?"   
"Shouldn’t she be locked up in the cell?!"   
The panic couldn’t help them anymore as Levi and Nanaba pounced on them.   
Hange pulled the semi-conscious Mike from the tussle.   
"Man, she was right. You're really heavy for a titan foal!"   
A soft grunt was answer enough when Mike tried to get up.   
"I can’t carry both." Levi complained. "We need to find the rest of our teams."   
"And Dok. Without him we won’t get far." Nanaba interjected after she had finished to tie the unconscious guards.   
Above them screams were heard.   
"Take the two and get out of here! I don’t care how!" Levi told the two women - to just grab into the air.   
Nanaba looked at him. "Looking for something?" She asked casually, patting the heavy boxes at her sides. Levi’s look could kill.   
Another scream.   
Nanaba was already sprinting towards the source, swords drawn. Hange threw Levi a rifle of the guards.   
"I'll take the two here out! Don’t let Nanaba get hurt! " 

Another kick, this time right to the chest.   
This time no cry of pain followed, but only a cough with which drops of blood spread on the stone floor.   
"You disgusting son of a bitch have spotted my shoes!" Another kick, this time between the legs.   
"There you go. Why can’t you just die?"A strong hand lifted Nile by the throat into the air. Without any energy left he tried to scratch his attacker’s arms. His senses threatened to leave him and Nile was sure that this time would be the last time that he woke up again.   
"Let him be. We have other things to do. And he doesn’t look that bad. Maybe he really survived the experiment? That’s so interesting! What if he can become a titan?"   
“Interesting or not, he will die here and now.”  
Experiments? Yes, that was also mentioned earlier. Titans, experiments, he will die. Oh, to die didn’t sound good. But dying equals no pain and no more humiliation. No more feelings. No pain, no fear. Never again having to worry about his family. His family. Marie. Hilde. Anna. His family. His family! 

"Levi !!"   
The called party rushed to the last corner, which separated him from Nanaba and froze. Before him was a bloodbath stretched across the entire corridor. Here and there was something that was perhaps once been a part of a human being, but Levi wasn’t sure what limbs were distributed here.   
And in the midst of horror sat a single man.   
Nile Dok was smeared all over with blood and swayed back and forth like a traumatized child, while muttering “I don’t want to die.” like a mantra.  
A window shattered beside them and a person landed next to Levi, slipped on the blood and slammed against the opposite wall.   
"Petra, watch ..." And then came a second person through the splintered windows. However, they landed safely and had even enough energy to smile at Levi.   
"Petra. Eld.” What were those two doing here?  
"Shouldn’t be a distraction to the guards?”  
"We have already done that, Sir. They are hunting the rest of us over the wall, but they are waiting for your signal.", Reported the young woman proudly.   
"What happened here at the walls?" Eld had gotten up and noticed that he was defiled with blood by his slipping.   
"Doesn’t matter. Get him out of here and then get out!! Zakarius and the commander are still down below!"   
"Gunter and Aulo have seen Hange and will help her."   
Nanaba admired the young woman, Petra, which ignored all the carnage and gave all her attention to her squad leader.   
"Levi?" Eld had perched beside Nile and thus had a look into the room, before he had overheard the conversation. "You should see this."


	21. Chapter 21

"Have I ever told you how much I admire you?"   
Hange studied the man in front of her and then smiled. "What have you done with Levi, stranger?"   
"If you can’t accept a compliment, then I will stop it. Stupid shitty glasses."   
As he turned away, the woman wrapped her arms around the smaller man.   
"I like you too, you know."   
He leaned his head back on her shoulder. "If you ever dare to die, I’ll drag you back from the beyond."   
"Yes, I would like to go out with you."   
"No Titans."   
"No bad mood."   
Silently Levi accepted the conditions and for a moment he enjoyed the view of the rising sun over Wall Sina with Hange’s warmth behind him.  
"Levi! Hange!"   
"I'll kill them all."


	22. Epilogue

A THE GOOD   
Erwin Smith was standing at his office window and looked up into the sky.   
"You know, you only appreciate what you had when you lost it."   
The man behind him chuckled.   
"I do hate it when you're philosophically."   
"Do you have your report ready?"   
"You mean the page long pamphlet that no one will read anyway?" Paper rustled as someone put something on his desk.   
"Nevertheless, it has to be written."   
"Yes, if some idiots ever again get the idea to create artificial Titans. A big ‘Don’t the fuck do it’ isn’t enough, eh?”  
Erwin chuckled at the thought. "That wouldn’t be such a bad idea."   
He closed his eyes as he felt the lips of his dream again on his skin.   
"But do we really have to keep the recipe of this poison?" Warm breath ghosting over his sensitive neck.   
"We have to. Only through this Agnes was capable to mix an effective counter-drug."   
"And save all our lifes, yeah, yeah, I know.”   
"You should be grateful."   
"I am. But we should change the subject now.” Practiced fingers loosened his chest harness and opened his shirt.   
"And what shall we talk about?" Asked Erwin amused when he leant against the body behind him.   
A laugh answered him and he felt teeth on his pinna.   
"Who said we are talking?”   
The future couldn’t be better. 

 

B THE BAD   
Wordlessly, the man stared at the report. His counterpart stared wordlessly at a point next to the other’s head.   
"That's it? This is your justification?"   
Less than a nod was the answer.   
"Come here."   
The called party did not move.   
"Didn’t you understand me? I said you should come here."   
This time, he began to move.   
Paper rustled as he got beaten in the face with the thick report. He didn’t move a muscle.   
"You can be happy if I won’t kill you!”   
The eyes staring at the man were devoid of any emotion.   
"You'll kiss my feet every day. You'll beg me to be allowed to serve me."   
Again a silence followed.   
"Get out of my eyes. And don’t you dare come back until you have success. And I do not mean this disgusting excuse for the money that I put into you! You owe me a Titan and not less." 

 

C. THE UGLY   
He coughed and wiped the blood from the back of his hand on his pants. Silently he had endured any punishment so far. The name calling, the harsh interrogation and torture coming with it, even the whipping. But slowly his mind began to crack.  
"Be glad that you are doing such a good service, Nile." Rough fingers grabbed his hair and pulled his head back.   
With undisguised contempt he looked at the man before him who dared to call himself King.   
"And be glad that your wife has got such nice tits."   
He spat out the remaining blood against the face that had come so close to him. But instead of the expected impacts, he heard the king laughing.   
"You have this thing in you, Nile. And you will serve me. As a man or monster." He took something from the nearby table and put it around Nile’s neck. This didn’t realize until now the thick leather collar that lay tightly around his throat.   
"You bastard."   
"Hmm, I think dogs should keep their mouth shut." A hard blow struck Nile in the face and let him fall to the ground. He watched powerless as a leash was attached to the collar.   
"You'll learn to obey commands, Nile. I was too careless in your education. But don’t worry. This error won’t happen again. SIT!" The command cracked like a whip through the empty room and a strong pull on the leash forced Nile to kneel in front of his king.   
"Good dog."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again thanks for reading.
> 
> By the way: Agnes isn't related to Erwin. It originally was a translation error which made me laugh too much. (German: Agnes Schmied = english: Agnes Smith)
> 
> Pixis and Hannes are mentioned in their later roles because I was too stupid to find any other predecessor of Dot and decided to change history a bit.
> 
> And yes, I would love to see Mike try to stand up after passing out. It must be hilarious watching him order those long limbs of his.


End file.
